


A Question of Property

by Ce_ba



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 08:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5040862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ce_ba/pseuds/Ce_ba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Alec accidentally adopts a cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Question of Property

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt "I have a soft spot for cats so i always feed the fat one that’s always hanging out in the hall with treats and now it started hanging around me fuck I’m so sorry i didn’t mean to accidentally steal your pet"
> 
> Also: If anyone reading this is interested in (and has time for) beta-ing TMI fanfics, please PM me, I am looking for someone. I'm like the most irregular writer but when I do get something done I would really prefer it if someone looked it over first. Unfortunately I have no such someone.

Alec had not meant to adopt the cat, or so he told himself. His only goal when feeding the felines that hung out on his floor sometimes had been to make them like him. Because, unlike their humans, they were nice. He had wanted to befriend them, a vain attempt to not feel like the social outcast he was. The plan had worked exceedingly well up to the point where a small white tabby was now firmly planted on his pillow.

With a sigh he dropped his books on the small desk in front of the window. “Hey,” he said.

The cat meowed.

“You know, I would love to take you in, but you probably have an owner. I should probably get you back to him,” he told the cat.

The kitten hissed as he tried to pick it up.

Looking back at his slightly ajar-standing door he sighed again. “I guess you can let yourself out.”

Pointedly ignoring the feline he begun with his homework. From the other side of the small room came a soft, content purring. His fingers hit the keyboard in the same steady rhythm, the paranoia over the open door soon forgotten. Alec lost track of time, until something small and soft nudged his foot. When he didn't react the kitten hopped onto the desk and plopped down on his laptop.

He lifted it in beginning protest, then, realizing that he had done enough for the day and really deserved a break, carried it with him to the bed. The feline curling up on his stomach he took out his phone. No new messages. Petting the cat absently he plugged in his earphones and got lost in the soft sounds of the music. After he almost fell asleep he finally threw the cat out.

That, however, was only the beginning.

The tabby returned almost every day, the exception being Mondays, and Alec turned out too good at incorporating the little kitten into his routine. On the days he had class he would give the cat treats before leaving the dorm. When he returned the cat followed him into his room, taking a nap on his pillow. After what Alec deemed enough homework he joined the cat on the bed, dozing off to soft purring and the lull of his music. On the days he had no class he let the cat in once he was ready to do excess school work and the day ended the same way as the others. He always remembered not to keep the feline over night though. Never over night. That was the one rule he gave himself regarding the cat. Otherwise he let it do what it pleased.

It was the same the day after Thanksgiving, except it was not. When Alec returned from his parents place, tired and a little too close to tears to his liking, the tabby slipped in through the door with him. He didn't bother throwing it out again. Instead he curled up on the bed with it, plugged his headphones in, and tried to drown out the voice of his father that was spinning through his head like a record. Alec only half succeeded, falling asleep with the crying face of his mother in his mind and the kitten curled up to his chest.

The next morning leaving bed was torture. By the time he had finally managed Alec was almost late. The kitten stayed in his room, making a nest out of his pajamas. After Alec came back he drowned himself in his homework, until it was four in the morning and there was nothing left to do but take the cat to bed and fall asleep with it.

That the kitten belonged to someone else didn't cross his mind until he woke up around noon the next day. It took a moment for his head to clear insofar that he could recognize the banging sound coming from his door, another for him to stumble to it in the half dark.

“Yeah?,” he answered, his voice coated in sleep. Alec was instantly conscious of the fact that he was still in his pajamas, especially since the guy on the other side seemed expertly dressed up. He was handsome too, Alec noted with increased dismay towards his own appearance, all honey colored skin, sharp lines under tight clothes, and gleaming gold green eyes.

“Have you seen my cat?,” the guy asked. His voice was soft and Alec was reminded of chocolate fudge, even as the guy tumbled over his own words.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes Alec stared at him noncomprehending. “Sorry, what?”

“My cat,” the guy said, taking a deep breath. “He's been missing for two nights now and I'm….I'm really worried. He used to be gone all day long, but then he didn't show up two nights ago, and still not yesterday and I just….”

He broke off, running his hands over his face in exasperation. Alec's mind drifted, wondering how the guy managed to do that without ruining his make-up in the process. Even his sister wasn't that skillful.

The guy started talking again and Alec forced himself to pay attention. “...he's a small white tabby kitten-”

“I'm so sorry,” Alec whispered. He had only now realized that the guy must have meant the cat that was practically living with Alec at this point and the guilt of causing so much trouble was settling in his stomach. Without further ado he went to retrieve the kitten.

For a second Alec feared and hoped the guy would take his sudden disappearance as a sign of disinterest and leave Alec the way Alec had left him. Then he could have just let the cat slip out of his door and no one would have ever known. It didn't happen though, and so the guy still stood in his doorframe, outlined by bright daylight, when Alec returned with the cat.

Before he could ask whether this was indeed the feline the guy had meant the latter threw himself onto the animal – and by doing so almost in Alec’s arms.

“There you are, Chairman Meow!,” he kept muttering, though Alec wasn’t sure about the last part. He should have thought it was the cat’s name had it not been so eccentric. That again seemed to be a fitting description of the boy on the opposite side of the door, so who knew.

“Listen,” Alec said, fairly aware of the color of his cheeks. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to steal your cat. You have to believe me that. I just fed it-him sometimes and then he started to hang out at my place on his own. And I let him because I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal but then I got super stressed the last days and....I guess forgot to throw him out again? I’m really, _really_ sorry.”

He was ready for the other guy to yell at him. If he was honest he wanted nothing more than for the guy to tell him to never touch his pet again and stalk away angrily. Then, at least, Alec could close the door on the world while he thought about what a huge failure he was without being rude. Alec, however, was meticulously polite, and so he waited while the other guy stroked the tabby’s fur good-naturedly and buried his head in it.

“So that’s where you’ve been everyday?,” he said, more to the cat than anyone else.

Alec barely suppressed a groan. Maybe, he mused, he should be glad the guy hadn’t left immediately. He seemed nice and under different circumstances – no. Alec refused to think he might have been glad to make the guys acquaintance. He _hated_ making acquaintances. It was good things had gone the way they did.

He all but forgot the thought when the guy looked up from the cat and gave him a smile, the big, open kind that almost swallowed eyes. “May I ask your name?”

“Alexander. Uh, but you can say Alec,” Alec choked out.

The guy chuckled softly, looking at the cat. When he returned his attention to Alec the smile had been reduced only slightly.

“Alexander,” he said, and Alec felt the blood rush to his face once again. He had just as good as stolen someone’s pet, what the hell was he doing? “I’m Magnus. And _you_ don’t have to be sorry. It’s not a problem, really. I mean, I _was_ worried, but I do understand the Chairman. I would rather cuddle up with you than face the cruel world too.”

For a millisecond Alec lost all control over his face. His jaw dropped slightly, his mouth forming a silent ‘oh’. The fact that Magnus seemed to enjoy making Alec do exactly that did not help him regain any dignity at all.

“Okay,” he mumbled after forever. Absently he reached out to stroke the cat where Magnus’ hand had been moments ago.

Magnus laughed softly while pushing his own fingers into the tabby’s fur, brushing Alec’s in the process. Now Alec was smiling too, although he was soon reduced to a spluttering mess again.

After the moment was over – Alec was very sorry to see it go – Magnus took a step back, disentangling them. “Maybe you’ll consider coming over sometime? For an official date with my cat? We’re living just a few doors down the hall. You can’t really miss it, there’s glitter everywhere.”

With a wink he disappeared, brandishing the feline in triumph and, Alec believed, calling to a friend that he had found his cat. Alec on the other hand closed his door on the whole floor that seemed to be staring at Magnus. He leaned against it and laughed.

Thursday after class he considered Magnus’ offer. He considered it again the following Monday where he brought coffee for Magnus to nurse his hangover with. Alec stopped considering it over and over again after Magnus and him decided to room together the next semester. And, later, when they shared their first apartment he considered it better to sleep with their bedroom door closed to keep whatever happened behind it from the scandalized eyes of the Chairman.

 


End file.
